Nine will battle for widespread support as its owners prepare to float the media group.Picture: Bloomberg Source: Bloomberg

NINE Entertainment faces some of the fiercest headwinds buffeting any sector as its owners prepare to float the media group, industry experts say.

Nine will battle for widespread support among investors despite a sweeping restructure that primes the group for an initial public offering, they say.

The warning came as Nine's hedge fund masters yesterday formally inked a deal with other lenders that frees the group of $3.3 billion debt - a pivotal step towards a float.

Under the deal, Nine's "senior" lenders - Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital - have taken control of Nine.

It will now go to the Federal Court for approval next Tuesday, ahead of the February 7 deadline when $2.2 billion of the group's debt was due to be repaid.

As part of the deal, Nine's board members are required to make "reasonable efforts" to prepare the broadcaster for a listing within 18 months.

Industry experts yesterday warned the path to a float would be difficult.

One stock analyst said the structural changes underway in the media sector were enormous. As a consequence, it would be difficult to price equities in the company behind the nation's oldest commercial television network, he said.

"I tell clients to try to stay clear of the sector," said the analyst, who declined to be named. "This is far more complicated than people are taking into account. A listing would be very brave."

Another analyst said the pressure was on Nine to become "fighting fit" in coming months to convince investors to buy in.

"They are going to focus on profitability and having a good stable earnings base," he said. "I don't think they've been badly run as a network - they had the wrong capital structure thrust upon them. It was ridiculous being lumbered with that much debt."

Under the deal approved yesterday, former owner CVC Asia-Pacific - a private equity house that invested about $5.6 billion in the network - emerges with just 1 per cent of the new-look Nine.

The new hedge fund bosses are expected to appoint a nine-person board early next month.

Nine has proposed former Fox Networks chief operating officer David Haslingden as chairman and former Howard government Treasurer Peter Costello as a non-executive director.

Fox Networks is the US television business of News Corporation, publisher of the Herald Sun.

Some industry experts have said Nine's float would be one of the biggest on the local market this year or next.

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